The Sting Community Quotes

It's fun to see how all of these conmen understand one another's references. Their community is so tight that you could swear they were all lawyers or doctors. People even give references when they're applying for grifting jobs. The whole thing is so organized it's no wonder they can pull off such elaborate schemes.

Twist is the man in charge of recruiting more than twenty men for Henry Gondorff's big con. It's amazing to see how many people are able to get together for the sake of pulling off a huge con. But that's where we see the extent to which the conman community is based on trust. If any one of these conmen were ever to sell out his friends, you can bet he or she would never work in the business again.

Boudreau is a smart guy and as loyal as anyone. That's why he's totally honest when he tells Twist that he can't protect him from the cops if this new scheme blows up. Gondorff is a guy who's wanted by the FBI, and even though Boudreau is connected, he can't pull any favors when it comes to federal law enforcement.

How about this for a professional operation? One of the most important parts of being a grifter is looking like you have lots of money, because people never suspect rich-looking people of trying to take their money. That's why Twist makes sure to have a ton of nice suits available for whoever needs them.

Here again, Twist meets Joe Erie and asks him for job references as if the guy were applying for a clerking job in a law firm. Of course, Joe hasn't worked for many mobs, but he's a good guy with lots of heart and Twist takes him anyway.

How about this for resourcefulness? Twist knows that if he's going to pull off the big con on Lonnegan, he'll need at least twenty men. The good news is that there seems to be a ready community of conmen just waiting for a job like this. So finding the manpower for the job is never a problem.

The thing to notice about this line is the way Gondorff quickly uses the term shut-out. His casualness here tells us that this is a common term that's understood among almost all grifters, especially ones that have used the "wire" scheme before.

Twist needs a lot of people to help pull off the big con. But at the same time, he's not willing to compromise on the quality of the people he's hiring. That's why it's important for all the top-shelf grifters to know which men are good at conning and which ones aren't so good.

This is a great line because it shows us that someone like Boudreau actually has a working list of all the conmen currently working in Chicago. The fact that he has a list means that there's an incredible level of organization among the community of conmen in town.

When the big con is finally over, you might expect a bunch of criminals to try to steal the 500 thousand dollars that was taken. But it looks like there's a lot of honesty among the men, as Henry informs all of them that they'll get their cut of the money if they just show up at their favorite meeting place that same night.